Commontide

Preparation for Personal Prayer

Holy Spirit, breath of God and fire of love, I cannot pray without your aid: Kindle in me the fire of your love, and illumine me with your light; that with a steadfast will and holy thoughts I may approach the Father in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who reigns with you and the Father in eternal union. Amen.

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Commontide
Collect
Prayers

A Collect for Protection

Wednesday — Evening Prayer

O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Provenance

Mozarabic, c. 7th cent.; BCP 1928

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

An evening collect whose distinctive fourfold opening names God as life, light, strength, and repose. It descends from the ancient liturgy of Visigothic Spain, substantially adapted for Anglican use in the 1928 American prayer book and given its present prominence in 1979.